


Pretending

by anakien



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: AU, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Fake Marriage, M/M, Mello actually has injuries here that weren’t overlooked in canon, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Mello | Mihael Keehl, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anakien/pseuds/anakien
Summary: After Mello blows up his base to escape from the Kira task force, his injuries force Matt and Linda to call Near for help. In order to get Mello hospital treatment, Near has to name Mello as his mate, much to the dismay of both. While Mello heals in the hospital, Mello’s team and the SPK are forced to work together in order to bring down Kira and clean up this mess. And along the way, many new (unwanted) feelings are brought to light.
Relationships: Linda/Matt | Mail Jeevas, Matt | Mail Jeevas & Mello | Mihael Keehl & Near | Nate River, Mello | Mihael Keehl/Near | Nate River
Comments: 10
Kudos: 32





	Pretending

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year! This is my first fic of 2021 :) 
> 
> I plan for this to be a multi-chapter story. (Don’t worry, I still haven’t forgotten about the sequel for Back From the Dead!) 
> 
> And another heads up, this is an A/B/O fic, so if that isn’t your thing then you may not be interested (though, I usually don’t write sex scenes so this will be more plot/character-driven/non-traditional dynamics). It also doesn’t fit with my other A/B/O Death Note fics - they’re separate. (& honestly, I debated even making this fic A/B/O, because it could honestly work the same in just a regular AU. But I’ve had it in my drafts since October, so oh well, I’m posting it. Maybe one day I’ll make a normal AU for it, too, if people are interested). 
> 
> This is solely my excuse for writing a fake marriage + non-traditional A/B/O AU bc I’m a sucker for cheesy tropes. 
> 
> This takes place after the explosion of Mello's base (obviously) but before Mello's + Near's meeting in episode 30. So it's an AU from that point on, although some of the dialogue is very reminiscent of that episode.
> 
> Italics represent Mello's writing. I don’t own anything DN related. 
> 
> Also, off topic, but I’m currently watching My Hero Academia & I’m hooked. I’m in the middle of season 4 rn. I’ll take fic recs if anyone’s got them!!! 
> 
> Enjoy and R&R!

The sound of rhythmic beeping is what wakes him.

His eyes feel heavier than usual, and it's a struggle to even open them. His left eye is obscured, and he blinks slowly, trying to clear it.

His brain is foggy. He can tell he's in the hospital. The walls and ceiling are too white to be anything else. A heart monitor beeps incessantly to his left.

On the far side of the room, directly across from his bed, Matt is asleep on the couch, head tilted back and drooling. Linda is curled up against him, head on his shoulder.

He has a very fuzzy memory of them arguing, saying his name. Linda, he thinks, gave him water and smoothed his hair off his face.

Someone makes a small noise to his right. He turns his head ever so slightly, only to see Near watching him carefully.

The beeping on the monitor picks up. Near sets his Rubix cube down in his lap.

"What are you doing here?" Mello croaks. He trails off, throat burning. His mouth tastes like blood now.

Near raises an eyebrow at him. "Matt called me." He reaches over and presses a button on the remote fixed to Mello's bed. A light flashes, signaling for a nurse.

Mello opens his mouth, struggling to speak, but Near shakes his head, dark eyes fixed on him.

"Don't try to talk," Near says. "Do you remember what happened?"

Mello's brain is so fuzzy. He tries to lift his hand to touch his eye, but his shoulder burns. He looks down - he's shirtless, and his entire left side is covered in clean bandages.

He remembers. Snippets, really, of Kira killing all of his men, of the Japanese task force raiding his base. He remembers that he's the one who triggered the explosion to blow up the building, after Soichiro Yagami learned his name just be seeing his face.

He doesn't know how he got here. He'd never go to a hospital. But he nods anyway.

"That was an idiotic move," Near says. His face is neutral, but Mello can practically hear the smugness dripping off.

Mello tries to glare. The most he can do is turn his head to face Near and squint.

Near doesn't look intimidated.

"Mr. Ruvie," someone says, walking into the room. A pretty nurse comes in, looking at Near. Mello struggles, trying to sit up, and her gaze shifts to him." Oh! Your mate's awake."

"Mate?" Mello hisses, but it splutters off into coughing, which only makes his chest ache more. He's even more uneasy now, and he tries to swing his legs over off the bed.

"No, don't try to get up," the nurse says. She rushes to his side and tries to ease him back into the bed. Mello tries to push back, but every limb of his is weak.

"Matt," Near calls out, watching impassively, and Matt lifts his head from the couch.

"Wha-?" Matt says, yawning. He blinks awake, eyes widening when he sees Mello. "Mel, er, Michael!"

Mello stops trying to fight and lets the nurse set him back down.

"Mr. Ruvie, you really should try to control your mate more," she says, casting a disproving look over at Near.

Mate, again. Mello may be fuzzy right now, but even he knows that isn't right. He sits up again, and this time Matt slips out from under Linda and comes to stand next to Near.

"Mate," Mello says again, accusingly. His voice sounds terrible, too gravelly and hoarse, and now he tries to get out of bed to go throttle Near. Mr. Ruvie. Whatever.

"Hold him down, please," the nurse says. "He's too disoriented right now. The morphine-"

Matt comes and presses down against his chest. He accidentally presses too close to Mello's left shoulder, and he cries out in pain.

"Relax, Mello," Near says, in a low-pitched voice. His eyes are focused on the nurse behind him, who's fiddling with his IV.

Whatever she's doing causes a wave of calm to rush over him. He blinks blearily up at Matt, who still looks concerned, and Near, who still looks largely impassive.

He doesn't remember what happens next.

* * *

The next time he wakes, his mind isn't as fuzzy anymore. He feels awake, more like himself, though there's a dull ache all along his left shoulder.

Only Matt is in the room now, playing furiously on a handheld console. He notices Mello stirring and turns it off, shoving it to the side of the chair.

"You lucid now?" Matt asks. He holds up a hand. "Don't answer that. Nod yes or no."

Mello tries to glare, but nods anyway.

Matt lets out a long breath. "Man, it is good to have you back. You've been out of it for days." He looks over, grabs a notebook from the table next to him, and passes it into Mello's lap. He digs around and finds a sharpie, yanking off the cap and placing it directly in Mello's hand.

Mello lifts his right hand, which is shaky, but nothing seems wrong with it.

_What happened?_

"You're a dumbass," Matt says bluntly. "The explosion, your base - you got burned bad. I don't know how you made it out of there." He runs a hand through his hair. "Called me, I took you to my place. Tried to treat you, but the burns all got infected."

_Linda?_

"You remember? When it started to get bad, I called her. She came to help. She's a better nurse than me, anyway."

He vaguely remembers that. He remembers them arguing over what to do with him. Linda trying to make him drink water, Matt trying to treat the burns on his back.

That brings him to another thought. He scrawls out his next note.

 _Near._ He thumps the page and glares.

Matt scowls. "I mean it, Mello, you got really sick. I'm talking fever, hallucinations. We didn't have the meds to take care of that."

Mello smacks the paper again.

"Don't give me that look," Matt warns, looking annoyed. "You were dying. I had to go ask him for help. And you owe it to him, too. He got you in here. Forged papers and everything."

_Where?_

"Where is he?" Matt looks at the clock on the wall. "He only comes at night."

_Mate._

Matt narrows his eyes. "Yeah, tell me about it. You know, you were the one crying out for him when you were sick. When we brought you here, his scent is the only thing that calmed you down."

Mello tries to glare, but the tips of his ears feel suddenly hot.

"Laugh it up, Michael Ruvie," Matt says, rolling his eyes. "You just better be glad that 'Nick Ruvie' dragged your BBQ ass here."

Mello snorts, which makes him wince as it does funny things to his shoulder.

_Check me out of here. I have work to do._

"Are you crazy? No way, Mello. You've got third degree burns all over your face and back. You were on oxygen until two days ago. And we think a wall or something fell on you, too, because you've got two broken ribs. You're not going anywhere for a while."

Mello scowls. Matt glares right back.

Linda takes that moment to walk in. Her eyes light up when she sees Mello, and she rushes over.

"Mello! I'm so glad you're awake. How are you feeling?"

He rolls his eyes. How does it look like he's doing? But he writes, _Thanks for helping_ , not wanting to hurt her feelings.

"Of course I would," she says, offended. "Matt asked me to."

Mello turns to Matt, eyebrow raised. Matt's face is flushed. Mello can feel the right side of his face tilt up into a smirk.

"You made us all really nervous," she says. "I'm glad you're okay. Should I call Near?"

Mello feels his smile disappear.

"He'll be around later." Matt looks up at her, but he's smiling. She pulls out an apple and a chocolate pudding cup from her jacket pockets. "Here. Best options from the hospital cafeteria."

Mello eyes the pudding with jealousy, reaching out.

Matt snorts and pushes his hand away. "Get back," he says. "The nurse will bring you anything you want."

He presses the call button, and sure enough, the same nurse as last time walks in. She smiles widely when she notices he's awake, and looking significantly more alert.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Mr. Ruvie," she says.

He eyes her, slightly annoyed by her peppiness.

She comes over, checks on his vitals. She tries to make pleasant conversation, but Linda is the only one who engages her. She peeks under the bandages on his face and on his chest, lips pressed tight together.

"We need to redress these," she says. "Michael, do you mind if I ask your brother and sister-in-law to step out for a moment? I'd like to talk to you alone for a moment."

He looks at her warily, and then towards Matt and Linda. Matt doesn't look too concerned, so he waves a hand to dismiss them. Part of him wants to smile a bit, that Matt is undercover as his brother. They look absolutely nothing alike - whose dumbass idea was that?

The nurse shoos them out and follows, telling him she'll be back in just a moment.

For the first time in a long time, he is alone. He sighs and lets his head fall back. He hates being in the hospital. Every part of him is itching to get out here and resume the hunt for Kira. He realizes that's what Near's doing right now, leaving his investigation in the dust, and his mood darkens.

The nurse pops back in, pushing a cart topped off with various supplies and dressings. She shuts the door behind her, but through the window he can see Matt and Linda discussing something at the front desk.

She knows he can't speak, or is trying not to at least. She tells him that getting burns on his face caused his throat to swell, and the smoke inhalation didn't help. It might be a bitch to deal with for a while, but he'll get over it.

Other than that, she changes the bandages in silence. He's almost resoundingly curious at what some of it looks like, but the smell of burnt flesh also makes him gag a little. The good news is that when she removes the bandages over his face, he still has his vision, which is totally untouched.

"You're a very lucky man," she tells him as she slathers him with ointment. "You should be grateful to be all in one piece like this."

He gives a half shrug with his right arm. When he lifts his arm, he notices he smells... different. He gives her a questioning look.

"Ah, you noticed the suppressant. It's normal, for longer-term patients, to get a dose to prevent heat or rut during your stay." She hesitates for a moment. "You also smelled very... distressed when you first arrived. Understandably so. Your mate approved the injection."

He scowls. Fucking Near, poking his nose into matters that definitely did not concern him.

She sees his face change and finishes her task quickly. Once completed, she strips off her gloves and sits down in the chair closest to his bed. He looks at her, uneasy, as she chews her lip in obvious uncomfortableness.

"It is also hospital protocol to ask questions when someone arrives in such a state," she says quietly.

 _Jesus fucking Christ_ , Mello thinks.

"At any time, have you felt unsafe with your alpha? Is he the one who caused the injuries?"

Mello would laugh if it wasn't so ultimately, humiliatingly horrifying.

He shakes his head.

The nurse watches his face carefully. "Are you sure?" she says gently. "We have resources to help you if he did."

He glares and shakes his head again.

She nods and stands. Fetching her cart, she walks out of the room, calling out to Matt and Linda with a wide smile. "He's all yours again!"

Matt and Linda trail back in and sit on the couch. Matt takes one look at the look on Mello's face and busts out laughing.

There's a knock on the door. They turn, only to see Near and a bodyguard, a blonde man, standing there. Near has two action figures tucked under his left arm.

"Near!" Linda says pleasantly. "We weren't expecting you until six."

"The nurse called and told me 'my mate' was awake again," Near says, looking a little disgruntled.

Mello snorts and turns his face away, glaring at the wall.

"This is Commander Rester," Near says. "He's one of the agents working with me on the SPK."

At a very pointed look from Matt, Mello turns his head back and gives the agent a once over. Rester nods at him briefly.

Then awkward silence descends on the room. Matt and Linda stare at Near, and Near stares at Mello. Mello ignores all of them, eyes locked on the wall.

"Why don't you come in?" Linda says, a faint note of tension in her voice. Rester and Near walk in, with Rester going to sit on the couch next to Matt and Linda, and Near coming to sit on the floor to the right of Mello's bed.

Mello looks up at the ceiling, silently praying to any entity listening to get him out of here.

"The doctor told me that my proximity would simultaneously calm you and help you heal faster." Near doesn't look up from the floor as he says this.

Mello tries to growl, but it only comes out as a faint gravelly huff. "Not my mate," he chokes out.

"No," Near agrees. He looks up, dark grey eyes meeting his. "But your body seems to think so."

Mello glares daggers at him. Matt suddenly clears his throat and stands, grabbing Linda's hand as he does so. "I think we're going to head out. We haven't slept in a real bed in days, and I need a shower."

Near nods and turns his attention back to the toys. "Rester and I will remain here."

Mello's harsh expression turns pleading as he tries to convince Matt to stay with only his eyes. Linda gives him a sympathetic look, but she follows Matt out anyway. Traitor.

The door shuts behind them, leaving him alone with Rester and Near. For what it's worth, Rester doesn't seem to be paying any attention to him, focused instead on the laptop he pulled out. Near is still on the floor, tooling around.

Mello scowls at the back of his head, even though Near isn't looking.

"Are we going to discuss it?" Near asks.

Mello writes _no_ and then crumples up a page from his notebook. He tosses it at Near's back and smirks when it hits him dead on. Thankfully, Near seems to take that for what it's worth and doesn't say anything else on the subject.

Soon though, Mello gets bored. He doesn't really want to sleep yet, and both Rester and Near seem content to ignore him. He shifts his legs restlessly.

Finally, he can't stand it. "Case," he grits out. "Kira."

Near lifts his head a little but doesn't turn. "Still killing."

His throat is on fire, and he doesn't want to talk anymore. He scribbles out, _Expected_ , on the notepad and waggles it until Near turns around, a slightly exasperated look on his face.

"Yes," Near says dryly, "thank you." He doesn't turn away.

Mello huffs and writes his next note. _I have a theory._ He holds it up to let him read it.

Near raises an eyebrow. "Oh?"

 _I'm bored,_ he writes by way of explanation, _Kira = L._

Near's reaction is sharper this time, and he looks at Mello with a new expression. He climbs into the chair by his bed, still clutching the action figures. "I've come to that conclusion as well. How?"

_I called Soichiro Yagami. Demanded to know L's identity. Not long after, L organized the strike against me. Kira forced one of my men to reveal the base's location._

"You make a leap to that conclusion. You merely assume L and Kira are the same person."

 _I had the notebook of death,_ he writes _. It comes with a shinigami._

"A shinigami?" Near repeats. His eyes are wide, and he considers Mello carefully for a moment. His eyes briefly flit to the liquid painkillers strung up to his arm.

_Yes. Also told me two rules were fake. Not important right now. Kira task force stormed base. Retrieved notebook._

"A shinigami?" Rester says, scoffing a little. "What, a Death God?" Mello turns to look at him. He is watching their interactions openly. "Near, that's crazy."

Mello scowls and writes, _Touch notebook - you can see shinigami._ He thumps the notebook against his leg.

"I believe him," Near says finally. "Why would he lie? What does he have to gain? Knowing Mello, he would at least tell a more believable lie, or something with an element of truth. Therefore, shinigami must really exist."

Mello can feel his mouth twist up in satisfaction. Next, he writes, _Weirdest thing - Yagami looked at me and automatically knew my name._

"Interesting," Near says. He absently twists a lock of hair, but his eyes are still trained on Mello. "I came to a similar conclusion. I pretty much figured out who Kira is, because of everything you've done."

Mello turns his satisfied smile into a sneer.

"Your image. Did you take it with you from Wammy's?"

Mello shakes his head.

Near nods, tugging on his hair. "I will take care of that."

 _Are we even?_ Mello writes. _For medical stuff._

"Yes," Near says.

_I do not want to work with you._

"I know." The gleam in Near's eyes has dulled again. He looks as if he had expected this.

Mello smirks. He did get further than Near in his investigation. There's only so much you can do sitting on your ass. He yawns suddenly, startling himself.

Near leans back in his chair. He considers Mello for a moment more before turning his attention back to his toys.

"Sleep, Mello," he says. "You have much to heal from."

Mello really doesn't want to sleep. And he knows he's been sleeping in front of Near for the better part of a week apparently, but it still makes him feel kind of weird and weak. Vulnerable.

Also, it pisses him off that Near's presence does oddly make him feel better. Fucking hell.

Somewhere along that train of thought, he falls asleep, amidst the quiet sounds of Near playing with the action figure and Rester's typing.

* * *

He wakes briefly, in the middle of the night. A new nurse comes to check on him, but he waves her off, irritated to be woken up.

He looks over, and Near is curled up in his chair, asleep. He doesn't stir at the nurse bustling about. Rester looks up when the nurse comes in, but otherwise stays put on the couch. Mello makes brief eye contact with him before Rester looks away, face impassive.

She fiddles with his IV. Mello's last thoughts are fuzzy musings about the relaxed expression Near wears as he sleeps.


End file.
